CN113508620A

CN113508620A - Power saving signal configuration for discontinuous reception of connections

Info

Publication number: CN113508620A
Application number: CN202080020488.8A
Authority: CN
Inventors: S·马莱基; 邹刚; A·赖亚尔
Original assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Current assignee: Telefonaktiebolaget LM Ericsson AB
Priority date: 2019-01-11
Filing date: 2020-01-13
Publication date: 2021-10-15
Anticipated expiration: 2040-01-13
Also published as: WO2020144383A2; JP2022516944A; US12022557B2; ZA202104880B; EP3909303A2; WO2020144383A3; CN113508620B; JP7445669B2; KR102662099B1; KR20210109631A; US20220078880A1

Abstract

Methods, systems, and devices are disclosed. In accordance with one or more embodiments, a method implemented at a wireless device is provided. The wireless device is configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode that defines an active mode and an inactive mode. The method comprises the following steps: while in the inactive mode, an indication to enter a sleep GTS signal is received that indicates to the wireless device to stay in the inactive mode for an upcoming active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the wireless device.

Description

Power saving signal configuration for discontinuous reception of connections

Technical Field

The present disclosure relates to wireless communications, and in particular to indicating to a wireless device to Go To Sleep (GTS) signaling and/or Wake Up Signaling (WUS).

Background

The new air interface (NR) (also known as 5G) standard in the third generation partnership project (3 GPP) is designed to provide services for a variety of use cases, such as enhanced mobile broadband (eMBB), ultra-reliable and low latency communication (URLLC), and Machine Type Communication (MTC). Each of these services has different technical requirements. For example, a general requirement for eMBB is a high data rate with medium latency and medium coverage, while URLLC services may require low latency and high reliability transmissions, but may require medium data rates.

One of the existing solutions for low latency data transmission is a shorter transmission time interval. In 3GPP NR, micro-slot transmission is allowed in addition to transmission in a slot to reduce latency. A micro-slot (referred to as type B scheduling in NR terminology) may consist of any number of 1 to 14 Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) symbols in the Uplink (UL) and 2, 4 or 7 symbols in the Downlink (DL) (in 3GPP Rel-15). Fig. 1 is an example of radio resources in NR. Note that the concept of time slots and micro-slots is not service specific, which means that micro-slots may be used for eMBB, URLLC or other services.

Physical channel

The downlink physical channel corresponds to a set of resource elements carrying information originating from higher layers. The downlink physical channels include:

-a physical downlink shared channel, PDSCH.

-physical broadcast channel PBCH.

-a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH.

The PDSCH is the primary physical channel for unicast downlink data transmission, but is also used for transmission of RAR (random access response), certain system information blocks, and paging information. The Physical Broadcast Channel (PBCH) carries basic system information, which may be required by the wireless device to access the network and read the remaining system information in system information block type 1 (SIB 1). The PDCCH is used to convey Downlink Control Information (DCI), primarily scheduling decisions that may be required to receive the PDSCH and to enable uplink scheduling grants transmitted on the Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH).

The uplink physical channel corresponds to a set of resource elements that carry information originating from higher layers. The uplink physical channels include:

-physical uplink shared channel, PUSCH.

-physical uplink control channel, PUCCH.

-physical random access channel, PRACH.

The PUSCH is an uplink counterpart of the PDSCH. The PUCCH is used by the wireless device to transmit uplink control information including hybrid automatic repeat request (HARQ) acknowledgements, channel state information reports, and the like. A Physical Random Access Channel (PRACH) is used for random access preamble transmission.

The following shows exemplary contents of DL Downlink Control Information (DCI) 1-0.

In particular, example contents of DCI format 1_0 with Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) scrambled by C-RNTI/CS _ RNTI include:

identifier of DCI Format-1 bit

The value of this bit field may always be set to 1, indicating the DL DCI format

-frequency domain resource assignment —

Bit

-

Is the size of the active DL bandwidth part if DCI format 1_0 is monitored in the wireless device specific search space and satisfies:

-for a cell, the total number of different DCI sizes configured to be monitored is not more than 4, an

-for a cell, the total number of different DCI sizes with C-RNTI configured to be monitored is not more than 3;

if not, then,

is the size of controlresourceset (coreset) 0.

Time domain resource assignment-4 bits as defined in 3GPP (such as in subclause 5.1.2.1 of 3GPP TS 38.214);

-Virtual Resource Block (VRB) -to-Physical Resource Block (PRB) mapping-1 bit, e.g. according to 3GPP (such as table 7.3.1.1.2-33 in 3GPP TS 38.214);

modulation and Coding Scheme (MCS) -5 bits, e.g. as defined in 3GPP (such as in subclause 5.1.3 of 3GPP TS 38.214);

new data indicator-1 bit

Redundancy version-2 bits, e.g. as defined in 3GPP (such as in table 7.3.1.1.1-2 of 3GPP TS 38.214);

HARQ process number 4 bits

-Downlink Assignment Index (DAI) -2 bits, e.g. as defined in 3GPP (such as in subclause 9.1.3 of 3GPP TS 38.213) as a counter DAI;

transmit Power Control (TPC) command for the scheduled PUCCH-2 bits, as defined in 3GPP (such as in subclause 7.2.1 of 3GPP TS 38.213);

PUCCH resource indicator-3 bits, e.g., as defined in 3GPP (such as in subclause 9.2.3 of 3GPP TS 38.213);

PDSCH-to-HARQ Feedback timing indicator-3 bits, e.g. as defined in 3GPP (such as in subclause 9.2.3 of 3GPP TS 38.213).

The wireless devices in the NR operate in various Radio Resource Control (RRC) modes (RRC _ IDLE, RRC _ INACTIVE, and RRC _ CONNECTED modes). One activity of the wireless device in RRC _ CONNECTED mode is that the PDCCH is being monitored by the network and/or network node for potentially scheduled data on PDSCH/PUSCH.

During this activity, the wireless device may need to receive and decode the received data in all PDCCH occasion/time-frequency (TF) locations/configurations according to the configured search space. The decoding process, also known as Blind Decoding (BD), needs to search for various Downlink Control Information (DCI) commands that may be present on the PDCCH channel and addressed to the wireless device based on checking the Cyclic Redundancy Check (CRC) using its cell radio network temporary identifier (C-RNTI) (and other RNTIs if such MCS-RNTI, CS-RNTI, and various system-wide RNTIs are configured). In the event that the wireless device finds a DCI command including information about allocation data on the PDSCH in the same or an upcoming time slot depending on the K0 configuration, the wireless device attempts to decode the PDSCH. K0=0 means that data is scheduled in the same slot, while K0>0 indicates cross-slot scheduling. K0 may be the time offset (in time slots) between the DCI command and the allocation data on the PDSCH.

The connected discontinuous reception (C-DRX) mechanism enables the wireless device to be placed in a low power mode for a substantial portion of the time when no traffic is transmitted to the wireless device. Depending on the configured periodicity, the wireless device "wakes up" to monitor for a PDCCH that may or may not include an allocation. The period during which the wireless device wakes up and monitors the PDCCH is referred to as the ON duration; it may also be referred to herein as an "active mode time". In the event that any DL/UL allocation is found during the ON duration, the wireless device remains awake (inactivity timer running) for the period of time during which it continuously monitors the PDCCH. If the wireless device is not assigned any data during this time, the wireless device returns to discontinuous operation, waking up again occasionally during the ON duration. C-DRX is depicted in FIG. 2. Typically, the DRX parameters are configured by RRC, and there are some other DRX parameters including Round Trip Time (RTT) correlation, HARQ correlation, etc. The ON duration and the time duration that the inactivity timer is running are also commonly referred to as the active time.

Generally, the following terminology is generally associated with DRX operation:

-an activity time: a time associated with the DRX operation during which the MAC entity monitors the PDCCH.

-DRX cycle: a periodic repetition of the ON duration is specified, followed by a possible period of inactivity (as shown in fig. 2).

-an inactivity timer: generally, refers to the number of consecutive PDCCH-subframe/slot(s) following a subframe/slot in which the PDCCH indicates the initial UL, DL or SL user data transmission for the MAC entity.

The MAC entities are medium access control entities and there is one MAC entity per configured cell group (e.g. primary and secondary cell groups).

One aspect of DRX is that DRX functionality is configured by RRC, which typically operates on a slower scale than the MAC or physical layer. Thus, DRX parameter settings, etc. cannot be changed fairly adaptively through RRC configuration, especially if the wireless device has mixed traffic types.

Disclosure of Invention

Some embodiments advantageously provide methods, systems, and apparatus for indicating to a wireless device to Go To Sleep (GTS) signaling and/or Wake Up Signaling (WUS).

The present disclosure provides a power saving signaling mechanism for 3GPP new air interface (NR) wireless devices and its underlying configuration with a tradeoff between GTS and WUS and requirements for channel conditions. In particular, the following embodiments may be considered.

Example 1: the GTS precedes the ON duration. GTSs, in particular Physical Downlink Control Channel (PDCCH) -based GTSs, are transmitted to a wireless device prior to an ON duration and the wireless device skips an upcoming ON duration or a plurality of upcoming ON durations.

Example 2 a: joint WUS and GTS for one ON duration: in this case, the network and/or network node may determine to transmit a WUS or GTS before the ON duration of the wireless device. If the situation has changed, for example, information must be delivered (in the case of a GTS before the ON duration) or delivery of information ends (in the case of a WUS before the ON duration), the opposite signal is sent to the wireless device.

Example 2 b: joint WUS and GTS for multiple ON durations. In this case, the network and/or network node may dynamically decide to transmit the long-term WUS or GTS before the ON duration. If the situation has changed, for example, the information must be delivered (in the case of a previous GTS before the ON duration) or the delivery of the information ends (in the case of a previous WUS before the ON duration), the opposite signal is sent to the wireless device.

Example 3: WUS/GTS resources. The present disclosure provides some mechanisms for assigning resources to WUSs and GTSs, particularly before the ON duration.

Example 4: the network and/or network node makes a decision to configure the wireless device for WUS or GTS operation. Here, the present disclosure describes some examples and mechanisms as to how a network and/or network node may use the inherent trade-off between WUS and GTS in different scenarios to efficiently use them for power saving and to keep network performance intact.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a method implemented at a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode. The method comprises the following steps: while in an inactive mode, receiving an indication to enter a sleep GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to stay in an inactive mode for an upcoming active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the wireless device.

According to another aspect of the present disclosure, there is provided a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode. The wireless device is configured to: while in the inactive mode, receiving an indication to enter a sleep GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to stay in the inactive mode for an upcoming active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the wireless device.

According to another aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode, the C-DRX mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode. The method comprises the following steps: when the wireless device is in an inactive mode, indicating to the wireless device to enter a sleep GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to stay in the inactive mode during an upcoming active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the wireless device.

According to another aspect, there is provided a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode of operation, the C-DRX mode of operation defining an active mode and an inactive mode. The network node is configured to: when the wireless device is in an inactive mode, indicating to the wireless device to enter a sleep GTS signal, the GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to stay in an inactive mode during an upcoming active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the wireless device.

According to another aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode. The method comprises the following steps: an assignment of at least one control resource set, CORESET, associated with the at least one search space is received to monitor for an indication of a power saving signal outside of an active mode.

According to another aspect, there is provided a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode. The wireless device is configured to: an assignment of at least one control resource set, CORESET, associated with the at least one search space is received to monitor for an indication of a power saving signal outside of an active mode.

According to another aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode, the C-DRX mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode. The method comprises the following steps: the wireless device is configured by at least one control resource set, CORESET, associated with the at least one search space to monitor for indications of power saving signals outside of the active mode.

According to another aspect, there is provided a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode, the C-DRX mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode. The network node is configured to: assigning at least one control resource set, CORESET, associated with at least one search space to the wireless device to monitor for an indication of a power saving signal outside of an active mode.

According to another aspect, there is provided a method implemented at a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode. The method comprises the following steps: receiving an indication to enter a sleep GTS signal over a physical Downlink control channel, PDCCH, when in an active mode during an active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the wireless device, the GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to transition to an inactive mode during the active mode time.

According to another aspect, there is provided a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode. The wireless device is configured to: while in an active mode during an active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the wireless device, receiving an indication to enter a sleep GTS signal over a physical Downlink control channel, PDCCH, the GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to transition to an inactive mode during the active mode time.

According to another aspect, a method implemented at a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode. The method comprises the following steps: when the wireless device is in an active mode during an active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the device, an entry to sleep GTS signal is indicated to the wireless device over a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH, the GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to transition to an inactive mode during the active mode time.

According to another aspect, there is provided a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode, the C-DRX mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode. The network node is configured to: when a wireless device is in an active mode during an active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the device, indicating to the wireless device through a physical Downlink control channel, PDCCH, an entry to sleep GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to transition to an inactive mode during the active mode time.

Drawings

A more complete understanding of the present embodiments, and the attendant advantages and features thereof, will be more readily understood by reference to the following detailed description when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings wherein:

fig. 1 is a diagram of radio resources in a 3GPP NR;

FIG. 2 is a timing diagram for connected-DRX (C-DRX) operation in 3 GPP;

fig. 3 is a diagram of a schematic depiction of a GTS-DCI mechanism for wireless device power saving;

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram illustrating an exemplary network architecture of a communication system connected to a host computer via an intermediate network according to principles in this disclosure;

FIG. 5 is a block diagram of a host computer communicating with a wireless device via a network node over at least a partial wireless connection according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 6 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node, and a wireless device for executing a client application at the wireless device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 7 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node, and a wireless device for receiving user data at the wireless device, in accordance with some embodiments of the present disclosure;

figure 8 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node, and a wireless device for receiving user data from the wireless device at the host computer, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

figure 9 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary method implemented in a communication system including a host computer, a network node, and a wireless device for receiving user data at the host computer, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 10 is a flow chart of an exemplary process in a network node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 11 is a flow chart of an exemplary process in a wireless device according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 12 is a diagram of a GTS-DCI payload, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 13 is a diagram of example 2a, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 14 is a diagram of example 2b, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 15 is a flowchart of an exemplary process performed at a wireless device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

figure 16 is a flow chart of an exemplary process performed at a network node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 17 is a flow chart of an exemplary process performed at a wireless device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

figure 18 is a flow chart of an exemplary process performed at a network node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure;

fig. 19 is a flowchart of an exemplary process performed at a wireless device, according to some embodiments of the present disclosure; and

fig. 20 is a flowchart of an exemplary process performed at a network node according to some embodiments of the present disclosure.

Detailed Description

As discussed above, existing DRX operations, such as C-DRX operations, are configured by RRC. In existing 3GPP specifications, the network node and/or Network (NW) has the ability to provide a Go To Sleep (GTS) signal in the PDSCH called the Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) DRX command in order to put the wireless device back into C-DRX mode after the end of the transmission. Thus, the network node and/or the network node manages and/or transitions the wireless device to sleep mode faster than the time it would take for an inactivity timer to expire, wherein the timer expiration causes the wireless device to transition to sleep mode

Wireless device power consumption may be an important metric that may need to be enhanced. Generally, based on one DRX setting from the LTE field log, significant power may be consumed on monitoring the PDCCH in LTE. If similar DRX settings with traffic modeling are utilized, the situation may be similar in NR, as the wireless device may need to perform blind detection in its configured search space to identify whether there is a PDCCH sent to it and act accordingly. Techniques that may reduce unnecessary PDCCH monitoring or allow the wireless device to go to sleep or wake up only when required may be beneficial.

The present disclosure is directed to providing a power saving mechanism before and after the ON duration of the C-DRX cycle that efficiently delivers wireless device power savings while also not placing additional burden ON the network node by increasing latency and decreasing throughput.

The present disclosure helps meet these needs, at least in part, by providing an efficient mechanism for wireless devices to conserve power while keeping the network and/or network nodes responsible for helping to ensure network performance is not impacted. Provisioning the GTS may help the wireless device to more reliably stay asleep and thus save additional energy. The appropriate choice of WUS versus GTS configuration allows for an advantageous tradeoff between wireless device power savings, power saving signal detection performance, and network resource utilization.

In a first example, if the result is that no DL or UL is scheduled for the wireless device, or scheduled for the rest of the ON duration, a GTS-DCI mechanism is provided to place the wireless device in a sleep mode (also referred to as an inactive mode) during the ON duration of the DRX mechanism. This scheme is depicted in figure 3. The advantage is to reduce the number of dummy PDCCH monitoring instances and thereby enable energy savings in the wireless device.

The timing diagram in fig. 3 shows how GTS-DCI interrupts ON duration to avoid wireless devices monitoring for false PDCCH. In this way, the wireless device may save some of its energy, resulting in a longer lifetime.

Before describing in detail additional exemplary embodiments, it is noted that the embodiments reside primarily in combinations of process steps and apparatus components related to indicating to a wireless device to enter sleep (GTS) signaling and/or Wake Up Signaling (WUS).

Accordingly, the components have been represented where appropriate by conventional symbols in the drawings, showing only those specific details that are pertinent to understanding the embodiments so as not to obscure the disclosure with details that will be readily apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art having the benefit of the description herein. Like numbers refer to like elements throughout.

As used herein, relational terms, such as "first" and "second," "top" and "bottom," and the like, may be used solely to distinguish one entity or element from another entity or element without necessarily requiring or implying any physical or logical relationship or order between such entities or elements. The terminology used herein is for the purpose of describing particular embodiments only and is not intended to be limiting of the concepts described herein. As used herein, the singular forms "a", "an" and "the" are intended to include the plural forms as well, unless the context clearly indicates otherwise. It will be further understood that the terms "comprises" and/or "comprising," when used herein, specify the presence of stated features, integers, steps, operations, elements, and/or components, but do not preclude the presence or addition of one or more other features, integers, steps, operations, elements, components, and/or groups thereof.

In the embodiments described herein, the joint term "in communication with …" or the like may be used to indicate electrical or data communication, which may be achieved by, for example, physical contact, induction, electromagnetic radiation, radio signaling, infrared signaling, or optical signaling. Those of ordinary skill in the art will appreciate that multiple components may interoperate and that modifications and variations are possible to enable electrical and data communications.

In some embodiments described herein, the terms "coupled," "connected," and the like may be used herein to indicate a connection, although not necessarily directly, and may include wired and/or wireless connections.

The term "network Node" as used herein may be any kind of network Node comprised in a radio network, which may further comprise a Base Station (BS), a radio base station, a Base Transceiver Station (BTS), a Base Station Controller (BSC), a Radio Network Controller (RNC), a g Node B (gNB), an evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB), a Node B, a multi-standard radio (MSR) radio Node such as an MSR BS, a multi-cell/Multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), a relay Node, a donor Node controlling the relay, a radio Access Point (AP), a transmission point, a transmission Node, a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH), a core network Node (e.g., a Mobile Management Entity (MME), a self-organizing network (SON) Node, a coordination Node, a positioning Node, an MDT Node, etc.), an external Node (e.g., a3 rd party node, a node outside the current network), a node in a Distributed Antenna System (DAS), a Spectrum Access System (SAS) node, an Element Management System (EMS), etc. The network node may further comprise a test device. The term "radio node" as used herein may be used to also denote a Wireless Device (WD), such as a Wireless Device (WD) or a radio network node.

In some embodiments, the non-limiting terms Wireless Device (WD) or User Equipment (UE) are used interchangeably. A WD herein may be any type of wireless device capable of communicating with a network node or another WD, such as a Wireless Device (WD), via radio signals. WD may also be a radio communication device, target device, device-to-device (D2D) WD, machine type WD or machine-to-machine communication capable (M2M) WD, low cost and/or low complexity WD, WD equipped sensors, tablets, mobile terminals, smart phones, Laptop Embedded Equipment (LEE), laptop installation equipment (LME), USB dongle, Customer Premises Equipment (CPE), internet of things (IoT) device, narrowband IoT (NB-IoT) device, or the like.

Also, in some embodiments, the general term "radio network node" is used. It may be any kind of radio network node, which may comprise any one of a base station, a radio base station, a base transceiver station, a base station controller, a network controller, an RNC, an evolved node b (enb), a node B, gNB, a multi-cell/Multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), a relay node, an access point, a radio access point, a Remote Radio Unit (RRU) Remote Radio Head (RRH).

The term "signaling" as used herein may include any of the following: higher layer signaling (e.g., via Radio Resource Control (RRC), etc.), lower layer signaling (e.g., via a physical control channel or a broadcast channel), or a combination thereof. The signaling may be implicit or explicit. The signaling may also be unicast, multicast or broadcast. The signaling may also be directly to another node or via a third node.

In general, the network (e.g. a signalling radio node and/or a node arrangement (e.g. a network node)) may be considered to configure the WD, in particular by means of transmission resources. A resource may generally be configured with one or more messages. Different resources may be configured with different messages and/or with messages on different layers or combinations of layers. The size of a resource may be expressed in symbols and/or subcarriers and/or resource elements and/or physical resource blocks (depending on the domain) and/or in the number of bits it may carry (e.g., information or payload bits or total number of bits). The set of resources and/or resources of the set may relate to the same carrier and/or bandwidth portion and/or may be located in the same time slot or in adjacent time slots.

The indication may generally explicitly and/or implicitly indicate information of its representation and/or indication. The implicit indication may be based on, for example, location and/or resources used for transmission. The explicit indication may be based, for example, on a parameterization of one or more bit patterns having one or more parameters, and/or one or more indices, and/or representing information. In particular, it can be considered that control signaling as described herein implicitly indicates a control signaling type based on the utilized resource sequence.

The transmission in the downlink may relate to transmissions from the network or network node to the terminal. The transmission in the uplink may relate to transmissions from the terminal to the network or network node. The transmission in the sidelink may relate to a (direct) transmission from one terminal to another. Uplink, downlink, and sidelink (e.g., sidelink transmission and reception) may be considered as the direction of communication. In some variants, uplink and downlink may also be used to describe wireless communication between network nodes, e.g. for wireless backhaul and/or relay communication and/or (wireless) network communication, e.g. between base stations or similar network nodes, in particular communication terminated here. Backhaul and/or relay communications and/or network communications may be considered to be implemented as sidelink or uplink communications or the like.

Configuring a terminal or wireless device or node may involve instructing and/or causing the wireless device or node to change its configuration, e.g., at least one setting and/or registration entry and/or mode of operation. The terminal or wireless device or node may be adapted to configure itself, for example, according to information or data in a memory of the terminal or wireless device. Configuring a node or terminal or wireless device by another device or node or network may refer to and/or comprise transmitting information and/or data and/or instructions, such as allocation data (which may also be and/or comprise configuration data) and/or scheduling data and/or scheduling grants, by another device or node or network to the wireless device or node. Configuring the terminal may include sending allocation/configuration data to the terminal indicating, for example, GTS and/or WUS. The terminal may be configured and/or used for scheduling data and/or using scheduled and/or allocated uplink resources, e.g. for transmission, and/or scheduled and/or allocated downlink resources, e.g. for reception, and/or entering a mode/state, such as GTS or WUS. The uplink resources and/or downlink resources may be scheduled and/or provided with allocation or configuration data.

Note that although terminology from one particular wireless system, such as 3GPP LTE and/or new air interfaces (NR), for example, may be used in this disclosure, this should not be taken as limiting the scope of the disclosure to only the aforementioned systems. Other wireless systems, including but not limited to Wideband Code Division Multiple Access (WCDMA), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMax), Ultra Mobile Broadband (UMB), and global system for mobile communications (GSM) may also benefit from exploiting the concepts covered within this disclosure.

It is also noted that the functions described herein as being performed by a wireless device or a network node may be distributed across multiple wireless devices and/or network nodes. In other words, it is contemplated that the functionality of the network node and the wireless device described herein is not limited to being performed by a single physical device, and may in fact be distributed among several physical devices.

Unless otherwise defined, all terms (including technical and scientific terms) used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this disclosure belongs. It will be further understood that terms used herein should be interpreted as having a meaning that is consistent with their meaning in the context of this specification and the relevant art and will not be interpreted in an idealized or overly formal sense unless expressly so defined herein.

Embodiments provide indication to a wireless device to Go To Sleep (GTS) signaling and/or Wake Up Signaling (WUS).

Referring again to the drawings, wherein like elements are referred to by like reference numerals, there is shown in fig. 4 a schematic diagram of a communication system 10 (e.g., a3 GPP-type cellular network that may support standards such as LTE and/or NR (5G)) according to an embodiment that includes an access network 12, such as a radio access network, and a core network 14. The access network 12 includes a plurality of

network nodes

16a, 16b, 16c (collectively referred to as network nodes 16), such as NBs, enbs, gnbs, or other types of wireless access points, each defining a

corresponding coverage area

18a, 18b, 18c (collectively referred to as coverage areas 18). Each

network node

16a, 16b, 16c is connectable to the core network 14 by a wired or wireless connection 20. A first Wireless Device (WD) 22a located in the coverage area 18a is configured to wirelessly connect to or be paged by a corresponding network node 16 c. The second WD 22b in the coverage area 18b is wirelessly connectable to the corresponding network node 16 a. Although multiple WDs 22a, 22b (collectively referred to as wireless devices 22) are shown in this example, the disclosed embodiments are equally applicable to situations where a single WD is in the coverage area or where a single WD is connecting to a corresponding network node 16. Note that although only two WDs 22 and three network nodes 16 are shown for convenience, the communication system may include many more WDs 22 and network nodes 16.

Moreover, it is contemplated that the WD 22 may be in simultaneous communication and/or configured to communicate with more than one network node 16 and more than one type of network node 16 separately. For example, the WD 22 may have dual connectivity with the same or different network nodes 16 that support LTE and network nodes 16 that support NR. As an example, the WD 22 may communicate with enbs for LTE/E-UTRAN and with gnbs for NR/NG-RAN.

The communication system 10 itself may be connected to a host computer 24, which may be embodied in hardware and/or software of a standalone server, a cloud-implemented server, a distributed server, or as a processing resource in a server farm. The host computer 24 may be under the ownership or control of the service provider or may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. The

connections

26, 28 between the communication system 10 and the host computer 24 may extend directly from the core network 14 to the host computer 24, or may extend via an optional intermediate network 30. The intermediate network 30 may be one of a public, private, or managed network, or a combination of more than one of a public, private, or managed network. The intermediate network 30 (if any) may be a backbone network or the internet. In some embodiments, the intermediate network 30 may include two or more sub-networks (not shown).

The communication system of fig. 4 as a whole enables connectivity between one of the connected WDs 22a, 22b and the host computer 24. Connectivity may be described as an over-the-top (OTT) connection. The host computer 24 and the connected WDs 22a, 22b are configured to communicate data and/or signaling via OTT connections using the access network 12, the core network 14, any intermediate networks 30 and possibly further infrastructure (not shown) as intermediaries. The OTT connection may be transparent in the sense that the participating communication devices through which the OTT connection passes are not aware of the route of the uplink and downlink communications. For example, the network node 16 may not or need not be informed of past routes of incoming downlink communications with data originating from the host computer 24 to be forwarded (e.g., handed over) to the connected WD 22 a. Similarly, the network node 16 need not be aware of future routes of outbound uplink communications originating from the WD 22a toward the host computer 24.

The network node 16 is configured to include an indication unit 32 configured to indicate to the wireless device 22 an entry to sleep (GTS) signaling and/or a Wake Up Signaling (WUS). The wireless device 22 is configured to include an operation unit 34, the operation unit 34 being configured to cause the wireless device 22 to operate according to the instruction.

According to embodiments, an example implementation of the WD 22, the network node 16 and the host computer 24 discussed in the preceding paragraphs will now be described with reference to fig. 5. In communication system 10, host computer 24 includes Hardware (HW) 38 that includes a communication interface 40 configured to establish and maintain wired or wireless connections with interfaces of different communication devices of communication system 10. The host computer 24 also includes processing circuitry 42, which may have storage and/or processing capabilities. The processing circuitry 42 may include a processor 44 and a memory 46. In particular, the processing circuitry 42 may comprise, in addition to or instead of a processor such as a central processing unit and a memory, an integrated circuit for processing and/or control, e.g. one or more processors and/or processor cores and/or an FPGA (field programmable gate array) and/or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), which are adapted to execute instructions. The processor 44 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and/or read from) the memory 46, which may include any kind of volatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as a cache and/or a buffer memory and/or a RAM (random access memory) and/or a ROM (read only memory) and/or an optical memory and/or an EPROM (erasable programmable read only memory).

Processing circuitry 42 may be configured to control any of the methods and/or processes described herein and/or configured to cause such methods and/or processes to be performed, for example, by host computer 24. The processor 44 corresponds to one or more processors 44 for performing the functions of the host computer 24 described herein. The host computer 24 includes a memory 46 configured to store data, program software code, and/or other information described herein. In some embodiments, software 48 and/or host application 50 may include instructions that, when executed by processor 44 and/or processing circuitry 42, cause processor 44 and/or processing circuitry 42 to perform the processes described herein with respect to host computer 24. The instructions may be software associated with the host computer 24.

The software 48 may be executable by the processing circuitry 42. The software 48 includes a host application 50. The host application 50 may be operable to provide services to a remote user (e.g., the WD 22 connected via an OTT connection 52 that terminates at the WD 22 with the host computer 24). In providing services to remote users, the host application 50 may provide user data that is transmitted using the OTT connection 52. "user data" may be data and information described herein to implement the described functionality. In one embodiment, the host computer 24 may be configured to provide control and functionality to a service provider and may be operated by or on behalf of the service provider. Processing circuitry 42 of host computer 24 may be capable of enabling host computer 24 to observe, monitor, control, transmit to and/or receive from network node 16 and/or wireless device 22. The processing circuitry 42 of the host computer 24 may include an information element 54 configured to enable the service provider to receive, process, determine, transmit, forward, relay, etc., information related to one or more of the indications described herein.

The communication system 10 also includes a network node 16, which is provided in the communication system 10 and includes hardware 58 that enables it to communicate with the host computer 24 and with the WD 22. The hardware 58 may include a communication interface 60 for establishing and maintaining wired or wireless connections to interfaces of different communication devices of the communication system 10, and a radio interface 62 for establishing and maintaining at least a wireless connection 64 to the WD 22 located in the coverage area 18 served by the network node 16. Radio interface 62 may be formed as, or may include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and/or one or more RF transceivers. The communication interface 60 may be configured to facilitate a connection 66 to the host computer 24. Connection 66 may be direct or it may pass through core network 14 of communication system 10 and/or through one or more intermediate networks 30 external to communication system 10.

In the illustrated embodiment, the hardware 58 of the network node 16 also includes processing circuitry 68. The processing circuitry 68 may include a processor 70 and a memory 72. In particular, the processing circuitry 68 may comprise, in addition to or instead of a processor such as a central processing unit and a memory, an integrated circuit for processing and/or control, e.g. one or more processors and/or processor cores and/or an FPGA (field programmable gate array) and/or an ASIC (application specific integrated circuit), which are adapted to execute instructions. The processor 70 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and/or read from) the memory 72, which may include any kind of volatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as a cache and/or a buffer memory and/or a RAM (random access memory) and/or a ROM (read only memory) and/or an optical memory and/or an EPROM (erasable programmable read only memory).

Thus, the network node 16 also has software 74 stored internally, for example, in memory 72, or in an external memory (e.g., a database, storage array, network storage, etc.) accessible by the network node 16 via an external connection. The software 74 may be executable by the processing circuitry 68. Processing circuitry 68 may be configured to control any of the methods and/or processes described herein and/or configured to cause such methods and/or processes to be performed, for example, by network node 16. Processor 70 corresponds to one or more processors 70 for performing the functions of network node 16 described herein. Memory 72 is configured to store data, program software code, and/or other information described herein. In some embodiments, software 74 may include instructions that, when executed by processor 70 and/or processing circuitry 68, cause processor 70 and/or processing circuitry 68 to perform the processes described herein with respect to network node 16. For example, the processing circuitry 68 of the network node 16 may include an indication unit 32 configured to indicate to the wireless device 22 to enter sleep (GTS) signaling and/or Wake Up Signaling (WUS).

The communication system 10 also includes the already mentioned WD 22. The WD 22 may have hardware 80, which hardware 80 may include a radio interface 82, which radio interface 82 is configured to establish and maintain a wireless connection 64 with a network node 16 serving the coverage area 18 in which the WD 22 is currently located. Radio interface 82 may be formed as, or may include, for example, one or more RF transmitters, one or more RF receivers, and/or one or more RF transceivers.

The hardware 80 of the WD 22 also includes processing circuitry 84. The processing circuitry 84 may include a processor 86 and a memory 88. In particular, the processing circuitry 84 may comprise, in addition to or instead of a processor such as a central processing unit and memory, integrated circuitry for processing and/or control, e.g. one or more processors and/or processor cores and/or FPGAs (field programmable gate arrays) and/or ASICs (application specific integrated circuits), which are adapted to execute instructions. The processor 86 may be configured to access (e.g., write to and/or read from) the memory 88, which may include any kind of volatile and/or non-volatile memory, such as a cache and/or a buffer memory and/or a RAM (random access memory) and/or a ROM (read only memory) and/or an optical memory and/or an EPROM (erasable programmable read only memory).

Thus, the WD 22 may also include software 90, the software 90 being stored, for example, in the memory 88 at the WD 22, or in an external memory (e.g., a database, a storage array, a network storage device, etc.) accessible by the WD 22. The software 90 may be executable by the processing circuitry 84. The software 90 may include a client application 92. The client application 92 may be operable to provide services to human or non-human users via the WD 22, with the support of the host computer 24. In the host computer 24, the executing host application 50 may communicate with the executing client application 92 via an OTT connection 52 that terminates at the WD 22 and the host computer 24. In providing services to a user, client application 92 may receive request data from host application 50 and provide user data in response to the request data. The OTT connection 52 may transport both request data and user data. Client application 92 may interact with a user to generate user data that it provides.

The processing circuitry 84 may be configured to control any of the methods and/or processes described herein and/or cause such methods and/or processes to be performed, for example, by the WD 22. The processor 86 corresponds to one or more processors 86 for performing the functions of the WD 22 described herein. WD 22 includes a memory 88 configured to store data, program software code, and/or other information described herein. In some embodiments, software 90 and/or client application 92 may include instructions that, when executed by processor 86 and/or processing circuitry 84, cause processor 86 and/or processing circuitry 84 to perform the processes described herein with respect to WD 22. For example, the processing circuitry 84 of the wireless device 22 may include an operation unit 34 configured to operate and/or cause the wireless device 22 to operate in accordance with one or more instructions described herein.

In some embodiments, the internal workings of the network node 16, WD 22, and host computer 24 may be as shown in fig. 5, and independently, the surrounding network topology may be that of fig. 4.

In fig. 5, OTT connection 52 has been abstractly drawn to illustrate communication between host computer 24 and wireless device 22 via network node 16 without explicitly mentioning any intermediate devices and the precise routing of messages via these devices. The network infrastructure may determine routes that may be configured to be hidden from the WD 22 or from the service provider operating the host computer 24, or both. When OTT connection 52 is active, the network infrastructure may further make decisions by which it dynamically changes routing (e.g., based on network reconfiguration or load balancing considerations).

The wireless connection 64 between the WD 22 and the network node 16 is in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure. One or more of the various embodiments improve the performance of OTT services provided to WD 22 using OTT connection 52, in which OTT connection 52 wireless connection 64 may form the last segment. More precisely, the teachings of some of these embodiments may improve data rate, latency, and/or power consumption, and thereby provide benefits such as reduced user latency, relaxed limits on file size, better responsiveness, extended battery life, and the like.

The measurement process may be provided for the purpose of monitoring data rates, time delays, and other factors of one or more embodiment improvements. There may also be optional network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 52 between the host computer 24 and the WD 22 in response to changes in the measurements. The measurement process and/or network functionality for reconfiguring the OTT connection 52 may be implemented in the software 48 of the host computer 24 or in the software 90 of the WD 22, or both. In embodiments, sensors (not shown) may be disposed in or associated with the communication devices through which OTT connection 52 passes; the sensor may participate in the measurement process by providing the values of the monitored quantities exemplified above or providing values of other physical quantities from which the software 48, 90 may calculate or estimate the monitored quantities. The reconfiguration of OTT connection 52 may include message format, retransmission settings, preferred routing, etc.; the reconfiguration need not affect the network node 16 and may be unknown or imperceptible to the network node 16. Some such processes and functionalities may be known and practiced in the art. In certain embodiments, the measurements may involve proprietary UE signaling, facilitating measurement of throughput, propagation time, latency, etc. by the host computer 24. In some embodiments, the measurement may be achieved by: the software 48, 90 uses the OTT connection 52 to cause the transmission of messages, particularly null messages or "dummy" messages, while it monitors propagation times, errors, etc.

Thus, in some embodiments, the host computer 24 includes a processing circuit 42 configured to provide user data and a communication interface 40 configured to forward the user data to the cellular network for transmission to the WD 22. In some embodiments, the cellular network further comprises a network node 16 having a radio interface 62. In some embodiments, the network node 16 is configured and/or the processing circuitry 68 of the network node 16 is configured to perform the functions and/or methods described herein for preparing/initiating/maintaining/supporting/ending transmissions to the WD 22 and/or preparing/terminating/maintaining/supporting/ending reception of transmissions from the WD 22.

In some embodiments, host computer 24 includes processing circuitry 42 and communication interface 40, with communication interface 40 being configured to be communication interface 40 configured to receive user data originating from a transmission from WD 22 to network node 16. In some embodiments, WD 22 is configured to and/or includes a radio interface 82 and/or processing circuitry 84 configured to perform the functions and/or methods described herein for preparing/initiating/maintaining/supporting/ending transmissions to network node 16 and/or preparing/terminating/maintaining/supporting/ending reception of transmissions from network node 16.

Although fig. 4 and 5 show various "units" such as the indication unit 32 and the operation unit 34 as being within respective processors, it is contemplated that these units may be implemented such that a portion of the units are stored in corresponding memories within the processing circuitry. In other words, the units may be implemented in hardware or a combination of hardware and software within the processing circuitry.

Fig. 6 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method implemented in a communication system, such as, for example, the communication systems of fig. 4 and 5, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system may include a host computer 24, a network node 16, and a WD 22, which may be those described with reference to fig. 5. In a first step of the method, the host computer 24 provides user data (block S100). In an optional sub-step of the first step, the host computer 24 provides user data by executing a host application, such as the host application 50, for example (block S102). In a second step, the host computer 24 initiates a transmission to the WD 22 carrying the user data (block S104). In an optional third step, the network node 16 transmits to the WD 22 user data carried in the host computer 24 initiated transmission (block S106) in accordance with the teachings of embodiments described throughout this disclosure. In an optional fourth step, WD 22 executes a client application, such as client application 114 for example, associated with host application 50 executed by host computer 24 (block S108).

Fig. 7 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method implemented in, for example, a communication system such as the communication system of fig. 4, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system may include a host computer 24, a network node 16, and a WD 22, which may be those described with reference to fig. 4 and 5. In a first step of the method, the host computer 24 provides user data (block S110). In an optional sub-step (not shown), the host computer 24 provides user data by executing a host application, such as, for example, the host application 50. In a second step, the host computer 24 initiates a transmission to the WD 22 carrying the user data (block S112). According to the teachings of embodiments described throughout this disclosure, the transmission may be communicated via the network node 16. In an optional third step, the WD 22 receives the user data carried in the transmission (block S114).

Fig. 8 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method implemented in, for example, a communication system such as the communication system of fig. 4, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system may include a host computer 24, a network node 16, and a WD 22, which may be those described with reference to fig. 4 and 5. In an optional first step of the method, the WD 22 receives input data provided by the host computer 24 (block S116). In an optional sub-step of the first step, WD 22 executes a client application 114 that provides user data in response to received input data provided by host computer 24 (block S118). Additionally or alternatively, in an optional second step, the WD 22 provides user data (block S120). In an optional sub-step of the second step, WD provides the user data by executing a client application, such as, for example, client application 114 (block S122). In providing user data, the executing client application 114 may also take into account user input received from the user. Regardless of the particular manner in which the user data is provided, in an optional third substep, WD 22 may initiate transmission of the user data to host computer 24 (block S124). In a fourth step of the method, the host computer 24 receives the user data transmitted from the WD 22 (block S126) in accordance with the teachings of the embodiments described throughout this disclosure.

Fig. 9 is a flow chart illustrating an exemplary method implemented in, for example, a communication system such as the communication system of fig. 4, in accordance with one embodiment. The communication system may include a host computer 24, a network node 16, and a WD 22, which may be those described with reference to fig. 4 and 5. In an optional first step of the method, the network node 16 receives user data from the WD 22 in accordance with the teachings of embodiments described throughout this disclosure (block S128). In an optional second step, the network node 16 initiates transmission of the received user data to the host computer 24 (block S130). In a third step, the host computer 24 receives user data carried in a transmission initiated by the network node 16 (block S132).

Fig. 10 is a flowchart of an exemplary process in the network node 16 according to one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more blocks and/or functions performed by network node 16 may be performed by one or more elements of network node 16, such as by indication unit 32, processor 70, radio interface 62, etc., in processing circuitry 68. In one or more embodiments, the network node 16 is configured, e.g., via one or more of the processing circuitry 68, the processor 70, and the radio interface 62, to indicate (block S134) to the wireless device 22 at least one of sleep (GTS) signaling and wake-up signaling (WUS), wherein the indication of the at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling is associated with at least one ON duration of the wireless device 22. In one or more embodiments, "ON duration" may refer to a duration during which the wireless device 22 monitors at least transmissions from the network node 16.

In accordance with one or more embodiments, the indication of at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling is based at least in part on at least one criterion, wherein the at least one criterion includes at least one of a data traffic pattern of the wireless device 22, a condition of a downlink buffer, and a condition of a channel state information measurement. In accordance with one or more embodiments, the indication of at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling corresponds to at least one of: GTS signaling, WUS signaling, lack of WUS signaling to indicate GTS signaling, and lack of GTS signaling to indicate WUS signaling.

Fig. 11 is a flow diagram of an exemplary process in the wireless device 22 in accordance with one or more embodiments of the present disclosure. One or more blocks and/or functions performed by wireless device 22 may be performed by one or more elements of wireless device 22, such as by operating unit 34, processor 86, radio interface 82, etc. in processing circuitry 84. In one or more embodiments, the wireless device 22 is configured, e.g., via one or more of the processing circuitry 84, the processor 86, and the radio interface 82, to operate according to an indication of at least one of sleep-in (GTS) signaling and wake-up signaling (WUS), wherein the indication of at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling is associated with at least one ON duration of the wireless device 22 (block S136).

Having generally described arrangements of signaling control information for indicating sleep-in (GTS) signaling and/or wake-up signaling (WUS) to the wireless device 22, details of these arrangements, functions and procedures are provided below and may be implemented by the network node 16, the wireless device 22 and/or the host computer 24.

Embodiments provide for indicating to a wireless device to Go To Sleep (GTS) signaling and/or Wake Up Signaling (WUS). Some embodiments are presented relating to configuring and monitoring a power saving signal or a power saving signal. The power save signal may be used as an indicator to trigger a power save event, e.g., a Wake Up Signal (WUS), entering sleep (GTS), activating or deactivating BWP, activating or deactivating antenna, etc. As used herein, a "power save signal" may correspond to a WUS and/or a GTS, in particular, to a PDCCH-based signal, i.e., a WUS-DCI and a GTS-DCI.

General framework:

at least one scenario is provided in which the wireless device 22 is configured with some power saving signal resources and power saving signal monitoring opportunities. In particular, if these resources and/or occasions are PDCCH-based, the resources may be some control resource set (CORESETS)/Search Space (SS) pre-configured by the network node 16 and/or network for the wireless device 22.

Where the wireless device 22 is configured with DRX, some power saving signal monitoring occasions are configured before or at the beginning of the ON duration. In the present disclosure, the concept of "before the ON duration" also includes the case of the start of the ON duration.

The monitoring occasion may be configured before every ON duration or some ON duration in a periodic or aperiodic manner. This configuration of monitoring occasions may be performed by Radio Resource Control (RRC) signaling and Medium Access Control (MAC) Control Element (CE) or Downlink Control Information (DCI) signaling may also be employed where faster adaptation is required.

As mentioned above, the power save signal may include a WUS or a GTS. The WUS is a signal upon detection of which the wireless device 22 wakes up (i.e., transitions from inactive mode to active mode), prepares to receive scheduling DCI, or directly begins to receive or transmit data over a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH)/Physical Uplink Shared Channel (PUSCH)/Physical Uplink Control Channel (PUCCH) (if so indicated).

On the other hand, a GTS is a signal upon detection of which the wireless device 22 goes to sleep (i.e., to an inactive mode) either immediately or upon a command provided as part of the GTS, meaning no data reception or transmission will be performed during a certain time interval.

Depending on the maximum number of power saving signals that the network and/or the network node 16 sends/transmits/signals in a power saving signal occasion, several power saving monitoring occasions in succession, in time or frequency or a combination of both, may be considered. For example, in one or more embodiments, one particular monitoring opportunity may be considered for a WUS, and one particular monitoring opportunity may be considered for a GTS, or several WUS and several GTS. In another approach, the WUS(s) and GTS(s) share the same monitoring opportunity(s). In some embodiments, the wireless device 22 is preconfigured to detect only WUS and lack of receipt of a WUS hint and/or indication GTS, or the wireless device 22 is preconfigured to detect only GTS and lack of a received GTS hint and/or indication WUS.

Some specific examples of such a general framework are as follows. As used herein, GTS may refer to indications of GTS signaling and/or GTS/GTS signaling, while WUS may refer to indications of WUS signaling and/or WUS/WUS signaling.

Example 1: GTS before ON duration

In one or more embodiments, the power saving signal is a GTS, e.g., a PDCCH-based GTS, that is sent and/or transmitted and/or signaled prior to the ON duration of the wireless device 22 (i.e., when the wireless device is in a sleep mode or inactive mode) defined by the C-DRX configuration of the wireless device 22. After detecting the GTS by wireless device 22, wireless device 22 may skip the upcoming ON duration, i.e., continue in sleep mode during the upcoming ON duration. In other words, the wireless device 22 continues in the sleep/inactive mode during the active mode time as scheduled or defined by the C-DRX configuration. This may avoid a situation in which the wireless device transitions to an active mode to then discover that monitoring of the PDCCH is not required for that ON duration before then transitioning back to an inactive mode, e.g., as shown in fig. 3. Thus, unnecessary transitions to active mode may be avoided, resulting in additional power savings at the wireless device.

In one or more examples, the network and/or network node 16 may configure the wireless device 22, such as via the processing circuitry 68, to skip N upcoming ON duration(s). Such configuration may be preconfigured by the network node 16 and/or the network, e.g., through RRC/MAC CE mechanisms, or dynamically indicated using DCI signaling (e.g., in a current GTS).

In one or more examples, the network node 16 and/or the network may configure the wireless device 22, e.g., via the processing circuitry 68, to skip N of the M upcoming ON durations through a preconfigured pattern (e.g., through RRC) or a dynamic pattern (e.g., informed by MAC CE or DCI signaling).

In one or more examples, particularly with respect to DCI-based GTSs (denoted by GTS-DCI), the GTSs include additional commands that may include, among other things/data/information, a duration for how long the wireless device 22 must sleep and/or for which the wireless device 22 must sleep, a sleep pattern (e.g., which ON durations should be skipped), overriding the GTSs, and possibly a WUS configuration or a direct indication of the first expected PDSCH. An example GTS-DCI payload as shown in fig. 12 may contain a bit or bit field 1201 indicating that this is a GTS-DCI, where a portion or the remainder of the remaining GTS-DCI payload (denoted 1203) may be used to provide one or more additional commands. The DCI itself may be designed to be included in the current DCI format (e.g., 0-1) or designed as a new DCI.

As in the case of WUS, two factors that may be relevant for selecting a GTS signal in the case of GTS are missing detection (misshed detection) and false alarm rate. The missed detection of the GTS signal may result in the wireless device 22 being awake for a duration over which the wireless device 22 may have been asleep (i.e., in a sleep mode or in a power save mode or inactive mode), and thus wasting some power. The false alarm may cause the wireless device 22 to sleep (i.e., be in a sleep mode and/or be in a power save mode or inactive mode) when the network and/or network node 16 anticipates or plans to schedule, for example, PDSCH for the wireless device 22. Thus, focusing on a low false alarm rate may be desirable as opposed to the case of WUS, as false alarms result in wasted resources at the network node 16 and/or network and additional latency. Therefore, it may be important to design GTS to deliver very low false alarm rates while also delivering low missed detections to save power.

An outline of the embodiment of example 1 is shown in fig. 15 and 16. Fig. 15 is a flow chart of method steps performed at the wireless device 22. At S138, the WD 22 receives an indication of the GTS signal. The GTS signal is received when the WD is in an inactive mode or a power saving mode. Thus, it is received prior to the upcoming active time pattern or ON duration. The GTS signal indicates to WD to stay in the inactive mode during the upcoming active mode. In other words, the GTS signal indicates to the WD 22 to stay out of its active mode for the upcoming active mode time/ON duration. As described above, in some examples, GTS signals may be received over PDCCH, e.g., in DCI. Fig. 16 shows corresponding method steps performed at the network node 16. In step 140, the network node indicates a GTS signal to the WD 22 when the WD is in an inactive mode or a power saving mode. In other words, it is indicated to WD 22 prior to the upcoming active time mode or ON duration. The GTS signal indicates that WD is to stay in its inactive mode during the upcoming ON duration.

Example 2: joint WUS and GTS mechanisms for one or more ON durations

In example 2a, consider a joint WUS and GTS mechanism, where the network and/or network node 16 may decide/determine to transmit a WUS before the ON duration (monitoring the scheduled PDCCH) and then transmit a GTS during the ON duration to switch off the ON duration and thereby save power in the wireless device, or vice versa (GTS causes the device not to monitor the scheduled PDCCH and only the WUS). Fig. 13 shows example 2 a. In other words, the wireless device receives the WUS 1301 when it is in an inactive (or sleep, or low power) mode and receives the GTS signal 1303 when in an active mode. In this example, the WUS and GTS signals are transmitted for a single ON duration (i.e., a single active mode time). That is, the WUS is received before the ON duration/active mode time 1305 to cause the device to transition to its active mode, and the GTS is received during the ON duration/active mode time to cause the wireless device to transition back to the inactive mode during the active mode time.

In an example, the network node 16 and/or the network schedule the wireless device 22 for an upcoming ON duration, where the network node 16 may send WUS to wake up the wireless device 22, such as via the processing circuitry 68 and/or the communication interface 60 and/or the radio interface 62. Then, when delivery of the information ends, and for example the UE DL buffer and its BSR are empty, the network node 16 may send a GTS signal to put the wireless device 22 to sleep. Here, the GTS-DCI or MAC CE DRX command or an extension thereof (especially if additional commands are needed) may be transmitted as a GTS. The network node 16 may use this GTS to overwrite the current WUS/GTS configuration or leave them intact.

In one or more embodiments, network node 16 may wake wireless device 22 according to a predefined or dynamic pattern (i.e., criteria), for example, via processing circuitry 68 and/or communication interface 60 and/or radio interface 62, for N number of upcoming ON durations, or N number of M ON durations, and then use GTS to put wireless device 22 to sleep if nothing is scheduled or scheduled for wireless device 22, i.e., use GTS based ON at least one criterion. If the GTS happens to be in any of these ON durations, the network node 16 may overwrite the current WUS/GTS configuration, or sleep the wireless device 22 until the end of the current configuration, or just skip the current ON duration and then skip again, with the wake-up pattern remaining the same for the remaining ON durations. Such (re) configuration may be pre-configured by RRC signaling or MAC CE, or explicitly included in GTS-DCI.

An embodiment opposite to the one described above is that when network node 16 notices and/or determines and/or receives an indication that wireless device 22 buffer is empty (i.e., at least one criterion), network node 16 may send a GTS to skip an event (i.e., cause the device to stay in its inactive or power save mode during the ON duration/active mode time) before the upcoming ON duration/active mode time. However, in the event that some important information is present for transmission to the wireless device 22, the network node 16 may send a WUS to wake up the wireless device 22. In this case, the wireless device 22 should instead be configured in advance through RRC signaling or through other dynamic means (e.g., commands in GTS-DCI) to monitor WUS periodically or aperiodically for some WUS occasions. In the case where the network node 16 decides/determines to send a WUS (e.g., WUS-DCI), then the network node 16 uses this to change the current WUS/GTS. In summary, in this alternative embodiment, the wireless device 22 receives a GTS prior to the upcoming active mode time and then receives WUS during the active mode time/ON duration, which causes the wireless device to transition from its inactive mode to its active mode during the active mode time.

An overview of the embodiment of example 2a is shown in fig. 17 and 18. Fig. 17 shows the steps performed by the wireless device 22. At step S142, the wireless device 22 receives an indication of WUS when it is in an inactive mode or a power save mode. Thus, the indication of WUS is received before the active mode time, i.e., before the upcoming ON duration. The WUS indicates to the wireless device to transition to its active mode. At S144, wireless device 22 receives an indication of a GTS signal over the PDCCH when wireless device 22 is in its active mode. In other words, the GTS signal is received during the active mode time or ON duration. The GTS signal indicates to the wireless device 22 to transition from its active mode to an inactive or power save mode during the active mode time. Upon receiving the GTS signal, the wireless device 22 transitions from among the active modes during the active mode time. The WUS and/or GTS signals may be received from the network node 16 or from the network NW.

The corresponding method steps performed by the wireless device 22 are shown in fig. 18. At S146, the network node 16 indicates a WUS to the wireless device when the wireless device is in its inactive mode. Thus, the WUS is indicated to the wireless device 22 prior to the active mode time defined by the C-DRX configuration of the wireless device. The WUS indicates to the wireless device 22 to transition to the active mode. At step S148, network node 16 indicates a GTS signal to wireless device 22 over the PDCCH during the active mode time. Thus, when the device 22 is in the active mode, a GTS signal is indicated to the wireless device. The GTS signal indicates to the wireless device 22 to transition to the inactive mode during the active mode time.

In another example 2b, the network node 16 may use GTS to put the wireless device 22 to sleep for N of the N number of upcoming ON durations or M ON durations according to a predefined or dynamic pattern (i.e., using at least one criterion for GTS), for example via the processing circuitry 68 and/or the communication interface 60 and/or the radio interface 62, and then wake up the wireless device 22 using WUS if something is expected to be scheduled or scheduled (i.e., using at least one criterion for WUS). Again, the wireless device 22 may be configured in advance through RRC signaling or through other dynamic means (e.g., commands in GTS-DCI) to periodically or aperiodically monitor WUS in some WUS occasions. After the GTS has been detected, the wireless device 22 may only monitor the WUS. Failure to receive a WUS may be interpreted as the GTS command remaining valid, i.e., failure to receive a WUS indicates to the wireless device 22 that the GTS command is still valid, or in other words, lack of WUS signaling indicates GTS signaling. Symmetrically, after a WUS has been detected, the wireless device 22 will monitor the scheduling PDCCH or GTS. The failure to receive GTS is an indication to continue monitoring the scheduling PDCCH, or in other words, the lack of GTS signaling indicates WUS signaling. Fig. 14 shows example 2 b. The WUS is shown at 1401 and the GTS signal is shown at 1403. A plurality of ON durations or active mode times are shown generally at 1405.

Further, like the previous example, WUS, e.g., WUS-DCI, may be used to wake up the wireless device 22 only for the current ON duration, or for all remaining ON durations or some of them, or even to override the current WUS/GTS configuration. For example, such (re) configuration may be pre-configured by RRC signaling or MAC CE, or included in the WUS-DCI.

In some examples, the WUS transmits before each PDCCH monitoring occasion or multiple PDCCH monitoring occasions, and the GTS signal is transmitted at the end of the current reception/transmission. This is a more "aggressive" approach.

For a certain wireless device 22, the network node 16 may schedule GTS and WUS signals according to the incoming data traffic pattern (i.e., the data traffic pattern may be at least one standard for use by GTS and/or WUS) of the wireless device 22, e.g., via the processing circuitry 68 and/or the communication interface 60 and/or the radio interface 62. For example, after the current reception/transmission ends, the GTS may be sent when the time interval to the next PDCCH is longer than a threshold, which corresponds to a wake-up-ramp-up (ramp-down) and sleep ramp-down (ramp-down) duration for wireless device 22. This may avoid additional switching of the wireless device 22 between sleep and wake-up, which may occur too frequently in a short period of time.

Example 3: WUS/GTS resources

The network node 16 has several ways to assign resources to WUS/GTS. WUS/GTS resources for PDCCH based WUS/GTS, i.e., WUS-DCI and GTS-DCI, are described below. However, similar procedures may be applied to other types of WUS/GTSs, such as sequence-based WUS/GTSs.

In one or more embodiments, the network node 16 may define separate CORESET/Search Spaces (SSs) for the WUS and GTS signals. The resources may additionally be specific to WUS and GTS (e.g., WUS-CORESET/SS or GTS-CORESET/SS). In this case, if the DCI happens to fall within a particular GTS-CORESET/SS, it is considered by the wireless device as GTS-DCI, and if it falls within WUS-CORESET/SS, it is considered by the wireless device as WUS-DCI. These CORESET/SSs may be the same as CORESET/SS for normal PDCCH monitoring, or additionally defined WUS/GTS for a specific purpose.

In one or more embodiments, the network node 16 may configure the WUS and GTS to be monitored in the same CORESET/SS, e.g., via the processing circuitry 68 and/or the communication interface 60 and/or the radio interface 62. In this case, the DCI transmitted for the WUS or GTS may need to be different from each other, and thus the wireless device 22 may distinguish the DCI. For example, a bit or bit field may indicate that this is WUS or GTS. Alternatively, for example, a particular function of the C-RNTI may indicate that this is WUS, while its opposite function may indicate GTS, or vice versa. In one embodiment, the network node 16 may use the same transmit signal for both, and the wireless device 22 determines whether the received signal is a WUS or GTS-handoff (toggle) function based on the most recent previously received signal.

Note that the embodiment of example 3 can be easily combined with the embodiments of examples 1, 2a, 2b, and 4. For example, WUS and/or GTS signals may be communicated to the wireless device 22 according to embodiments of examples 1, 2a, 2b, and 4 in resources assigned according to embodiments of example 3. Similarly, the wireless device 22 may monitor resources assigned according to embodiments of example 3 for WUSs and/or GTSs delivered according to embodiments of examples 1, 2a, 2b, and 4.

Fig. 19 shows an overview of an embodiment of example 3, showing steps performed by the wireless device 22. In step S150, the wireless device receives an assignment of at least one CORESET. At least one CORESET can be assigned from the network node 16 or more generally from the network. CORESET is associated with at least one search space to monitor for indications of power saving signals outside of the active mode. Thus, the wireless device 22 receives an assignment of CORESET associated with at least one search space that the device 22 is to monitor for an indication of a power saving signal outside of the active mode (i.e., when the device is in an inactive or power saving mode). The power save signal may be a GTS signal or a WUS. Upon receiving the assignment, the wireless device monitors an associated search space for a power save signal.

Fig. 20 shows a corresponding flow chart of method steps performed by the network node 16. At step S152, the network node 16 configures the wireless device with at least one CORESET associated with at least one search space that the wireless device 22 is to monitor for an indication of a power saving signal outside of the active mode (i.e., when the device is in an inactive or power saving mode). The power save signal may be a GTS signal or a WUS.

Example 4: a network node 16 decision is made to transmit a GTS or WUS before the ON duration.

In one or more embodiments, a process is described that the network node 16 may follow to determine whether the network node 16 may transmit WUS or GTS before the ON duration. In particular, it is described that the network node 16 sends a GTS instead of lacking a WUS at the appropriate time, or conversely, sends a WUS instead of lacking a GTS at the appropriate time.

In one example, given a traffic pattern (i.e., standard) to wireless device 22, network node 16 decides, e.g., via processing circuitry 68 and/or communication interface 60 and/or radio interface 62, to transmit a signal that may require less frequent transmission. If the wireless device 22 receives data frequently, occasional GTS transmissions reduce network node 16 resource usage for power saving signaling when no data is available. Conversely, if the wireless device 22 receives little data, it may be preferable to configure the wireless device 22 to look for WUS. The selection between WUS or GTS may also be based on network node 16 load (i.e., criteria), e.g., if there is no resource limitation, a more robust GTS, e.g., PDCCH-GTS, may always be selected for which the false alarm probability may remain low. The above selection may be between WUS and GTS if there is a resource shortage.

In one or more embodiments, the network node 16 may decide to transmit a WUS, e.g., via the processing circuitry 68 and/or the communication interface 60 and/or the radio interface 62, if the wireless device's DL buffer is not empty, or if the wireless device 22 is expected to transmit an updated CSI measurement (in particular an aperiodic CSI measurement), or if the network node 16 expects some data to be forthcoming for an upcoming ON duration or for a plurality of upcoming ON durations. To do so, the network node 16 may, for example, look at previous wireless device 22 statistics to learn patterns (i.e., criteria) of wireless device 22 data delivery. For example, if the probability that certain DL data becomes available to the wireless device 22 based on current statistics is greater than a threshold, the network node 16 sends a WUS, and if less than the threshold, it does not send a WUS.

One or more embodiments may also be provided for GTS. For example, if the wireless device 22 DL buffer is empty (i.e., standard), the network node 16 may decide to send a GTS, leaving the wireless device 22 to go to sleep for the next ON duration(s), or the network node 16 may also make this decision based ON the wireless device 22's previous data transmission pattern and associated probability.

In some embodiments, when the wireless device 22 is configured to monitor both WUS and GTS simultaneously, such as using the processing circuitry 84, the network node 16 may also decide not to send GTS when the network node 16 decides to send WUS, or the network node 16 may also decide not to send WUS when the network node 16 decides to send GTS. This may lead to misalignment if the wireless device 22 is configured to monitor both the WUS and the GTS in a single occasion. For example, if the wireless device 22 should receive the GTS and detect it correctly, but also trigger a WUS false alarm, misalignment may occur because the wireless device 22 is not aware of sleeping or staying awake.

One solution to the above misalignment is that based on channel measurements obtained by the network node 16 or reported by the wireless device 22, the network node 16 decides to use only GTS or WUS for multiple occasions and communicates it to the wireless device 22 through RRC signaling, MAC CE or DCI, where misalignment can be considered a standard for use by WUS and/or GTS. However, in this case, RRC signaling may be more appropriate, as the configuration may remain the same over a longer period of time. For example, when one or more channels are in good condition (i.e., one or more calculated and/or measured metrics of the channel meet one or more predefined thresholds and/or criteria), and thus WUS can be reliably detected, the network node 16 may decide to use WUS as an indication, and in such a case, the absence of WUS may indicate GTS. But if the channel conditions are not good (i.e., the threshold and/or criteria are not met), the network node 16 may decide to use GTS, which may provide a low false alarm and thus less risk to the network node 16.

Another solution to the misalignment described above is for the wireless device 22 to stay awake in the event of a conflict between GTS and WUS indications, particularly if the network node 16 does not make every opportunity specific to either the WUS or the GTS and anticipates the wireless device 22 to monitor both.

Here, the probability of combining WUS/GTS provides another level of robustness in the event of errors or misalignment. For example, if the wireless device 22 goes to sleep by mistake, the network node 16 may become aware of this as long as it does not receive a HARQ ACK/NACK and therefore attempts to wake up the wireless device 22 using WUS.

Thus, as described herein, the present disclosure provides an efficient mechanism for wireless devices 22 to conserve power while keeping network nodes 16 responsible to help ensure network performance is not impacted. Providing a GTS may help wireless device 22 to more reliably remain asleep and thus save additional energy. The appropriate selection of WUS versus GTS configuration allows for evoking a favorable tradeoff between wireless device 22 power savings, power saving signal detection performance, and network node 16 resource utilization.

As will be appreciated by one skilled in the art, the concepts described herein may be embodied as methods, data processing systems, computer program products, and/or computer storage media storing executable computer programs. Accordingly, the concepts described herein may take the form of an entirely hardware embodiment, an entirely software embodiment or an embodiment combining software and hardware aspects all generally referred to herein as a "circuit" or "module. Any of the processes, steps, actions, and/or functionalities described herein may be performed by and/or associated with corresponding modules, which may be implemented in software and/or firmware and/or hardware. Furthermore, the present disclosure may take the form of a computer program product on a tangible computer-usable storage medium having computer program code embodied in the medium that is executable by a computer. Any suitable tangible computer readable medium may be utilized including hard disks, CD-ROMs, electronic memory devices, optical memory devices, or magnetic memory devices.

Some embodiments are described herein with reference to flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams of methods, systems, and computer program products. It will be understood that each block of the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, and combinations of blocks in the flowchart illustrations and/or block diagrams, can be implemented by computer program instructions. These computer program instructions may be provided to a processor of a general purpose computer (to thereby create a special purpose computer), special purpose computer, or other programmable data processing apparatus to produce a machine, such that the instructions, which execute via the processor of the computer or other programmable data processing apparatus, create means for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

These computer program instructions may also be stored in a computer-readable memory or storage medium that can direct a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to function in a particular manner, such that the instructions stored in the computer-readable memory produce an article of manufacture including instruction means which implement the function/act specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

The computer program instructions may also be loaded onto a computer or other programmable data processing apparatus to cause a series of operational steps to be performed on the computer or other programmable apparatus to produce a computer implemented process such that the instructions which execute on the computer or other programmable apparatus provide steps for implementing the functions/acts specified in the flowchart and/or block diagram block or blocks.

It is to be understood that the functions/acts noted in the blocks may occur out of the order noted in the operational illustrations. For example, two blocks shown in succession may, in fact, be executed substantially concurrently, or the blocks may sometimes be executed in the reverse order, depending upon the functionality/acts involved. Although some of the figures include arrows on communication paths to illustrate the primary direction of communication, it is to be understood that communication may occur in the opposite direction to the depicted arrows.

Computer program code for carrying out operations of the concepts described herein may be written in an object oriented programming language such as Java or C + +. However, the computer program code for carrying out operations of the present disclosure may also be written in conventional procedural programming languages, such as the "C" programming language. The program code may execute entirely on the user's computer, partly on the user's computer, as a stand-alone software package, partly on the user's computer and partly on a remote computer or entirely on the remote computer. In the latter scenario, the remote computer may be connected to the user's computer through a Local Area Network (LAN) or a Wide Area Network (WAN), or the connection may be made to an external computer (for example, through the Internet using an Internet service provider).

Many different embodiments have been disclosed herein in connection with the above description and the accompanying drawings. It will be understood that it would be overly duplicative and confusing to literally describe and illustrate each and every combination and subcombination of the embodiments. Accordingly, all embodiments may be combined in any manner and/or combination, and the description including the drawings should be construed to constitute a complete written description of all combinations and subcombinations of the embodiments described herein, and of the manner and process of making and using them, and should support protection for any such combinations or subcombinations.

Abbreviations that may be used in the foregoing description include:

3GPP third generation partnership project

5G 5 th generation

BB baseband

BW bandwidth

C-DRX/CDRX connected mode DRX (i.e., DRX in RRC _ CONNETED state)

CRC cyclic redundancy check

DCI downlink control information

DL downlink

DRX discontinuous reception

Radio base station in gNB 5G/NR

GTS goes to sleep

HARQ hybrid automatic repeat request

IoT Internet of things

LO local oscillator

LTE Long term evolution

MAC medium access control

MCS modulation and coding scheme

mMTC Large Scale MTC (refers to a scenario with commonly deployed MTC devices)

ms

MTC machine type communication

NB narrowband

NB-IOT narrowband Internet of things

NR New air interface

NW network

PDCCH physical downlink control channel

PDSCH physical downlink shared channel

RF radio frequency

RNTI radio network temporary identifier

RRC radio resource control

Rx receiver/reception

SSB synchronization signal block

T/F time/frequency

TX transmitter/Transmission

UE user equipment

UL uplink

WU Wake-up

WUG Wake group

WUR Wake-up radio/Wake-up receiver

WUS wake-up signal/wake-up signaling

It will be appreciated by persons skilled in the art that the embodiments described herein are not limited to what has been particularly shown and described herein above. Furthermore, unless mention was made above to the contrary, it should be noted that all of the accompanying drawings are not to scale. Many modifications and variations are possible in light of the above teaching.

Example embodiments according to the present disclosure are presented below.

Examples

Embodiment a1 a network node configured to communicate with a Wireless Device (WD), the network node being configured to and/or comprising a radio interface and/or comprising processing circuitry configured to:

indicating at least one of sleep-in (GTS) signaling and wake-up signaling (WUS) to the wireless device, the indication of the at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling associated with at least one ON duration of the wireless device.

Embodiment a2 the network node of embodiment a1, wherein the indication of at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling is based, at least in part, on at least one criterion including at least one of a data traffic pattern of the wireless device, a condition of a downlink buffer, and a condition of a channel state information measurement.

Embodiment A3 the network node of embodiment a1, wherein the indication of at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling corresponds to at least one of:

a GTS signal;

WUS signaling;

lack of WUS signaling to indicate GTS signaling; and

GTS signaling is missing to indicate WUS signaling.

Embodiment B1 a method implemented in a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device, the method comprising indicating to the wireless device at least one of sleep entering (GTS) signaling and Wake Up Signaling (WUS), the indication of the at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling being associated with at least one ON duration of the wireless device.

Embodiment B2 the method of embodiment B1, wherein the indication of at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling is based at least in part on at least one criterion including at least one of a data traffic pattern of the wireless device, a status of a downlink buffer, and a status of a channel state information measurement.

Embodiment B3 the method of embodiment B1, wherein the indication of at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling corresponds to at least one of:

a GTS signal;

WUS signaling;

lack of WUS signaling to indicate GTS signaling; and

GTS signaling is missing to indicate WUS signaling.

Embodiment C1 a Wireless Device (WD) configured to communicate with a network node, the WD being configured and/or comprising a radio interface and/or comprising processing circuitry configured to:

operate according to an indication of at least one of sleep-in (GTS) signaling and wake-up signaling (WUS) associated with at least one ON duration of the wireless device.

Embodiment C2 the WD of embodiment C1, wherein the indication of at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling is based at least in part on at least one criterion including at least one of a data traffic pattern of the wireless device, a status of a downlink buffer, and a status of a channel state information measurement.

Embodiment C3 the WD of embodiment C1, wherein the indication of at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling corresponds to at least one of:

a GTS signal;

WUS signaling;

lack of WUS signaling to indicate GTS signaling; and

GTS signaling is missing to indicate WUS signaling.

Embodiment D1 a method implemented in a Wireless Device (WD) comprising operating in accordance with an indication of at least one of sleep-in (GTS) signaling and wake-up signaling (WUS), the indication of at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling associated with at least one ON duration of the wireless device.

Embodiment D2 the method of embodiment D1, wherein the indication of at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling is based at least in part on at least one criterion including at least one of a data traffic pattern of the wireless device, a status of a downlink buffer, and a status of a channel state information measurement.

Embodiment D3 the method of embodiment D1, wherein the indication of at least one of GTS signaling and WUS signaling corresponds to at least one of:

a GTS signal;

WUS signaling;

lack of WUS signaling to indicate GTS signaling; and

GTS signaling is missing to indicate WUS signaling.

Claims

1. A method implemented at a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode, the method comprising:

while in an inactive mode, receiving an indication to enter a sleep GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to stay in an inactive mode during an upcoming active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the wireless device.

2. The method of claim 1, further comprising operating in accordance with the indication by the GTS signal staying in an inactive mode during the upcoming active mode time.

3. The method of claim 1 or 2, wherein the method comprises receiving the indication of the GTS signal over a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH.

4. The method of claim 3, wherein the method comprises receiving the indication of the GTS signal in downlink control information, DCI.

5. The method of claim 4, wherein the DCI includes an indication of the GTS signal.

6. The method of any preceding claim, wherein the method comprises receiving the indication of the GTS signal in at least one monitored configuration control resource set, CORESET.

7. The method of claim 6 wherein the at least one CORESET is specific to the GTS signal.

8. The method of claim 6, wherein the at least one CORESET is shared with other PDCCH monitoring.

9. A wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode, the C-DRX mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode, the wireless device configured to:

10. The wireless device of claim 9, wherein the wireless device is further configured to operate in accordance with the indication by the GTS signal staying in an inactive mode during the upcoming active mode time.

11. The wireless device of claim 9 or 10, wherein the wireless device is configured to receive the indication of the GTS signal over a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH.

12. The wireless device of claim 11, wherein the wireless device is configured to receive the indication of the GTS signal in downlink control information, DCI.

13. The wireless apparatus of claim 12, wherein the DCI comprises an indication of the GTS signal.

14. The wireless device of any of claims 9 to 13, wherein the wireless device is configured to receive the indication of the GTS signal in at least one monitored set of configuration control resources, CORESET.

15. The wireless device of claim 14 wherein the at least one CORESET is a CORESET specific to the GTS signal.

16. The wireless apparatus of claim 14, wherein the at least one CORESET is shared with other PDCCH monitoring.

17. A method implemented at a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode, the C-DRX mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode, the method comprising:

indicating to the wireless device to enter a sleep GTS signal when the wireless device is in an inactive mode, the GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to stay in an inactive mode during an upcoming active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the wireless device.

18. The method of claim 17, wherein the method comprises indicating the GTS signal over a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH.

19. The method according to claim 17 or 18, wherein the method comprises indicating the GTS signal in downlink control information, DCI.

20. The method of claim 19, wherein the DCI includes an indication of the GTS signal.

21. The method of any one of claims 17 to 20, wherein the method comprises indicating the GTS signal in at least one configuration control resource set, CORESET.

22. The method of claim 21 wherein the at least one CORESET is specific to the GTS signal.

23. The method of claim 21, wherein the at least one CORESET is shared with other PDCCH monitoring.

24. A network node configured to communicate with a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode of operation, the C-DRX mode of operation defining an active mode and an inactive mode, the network node configured to:

25. The network node of claim 24, wherein the network node is configured to indicate the GTS signal over a physical downlink control channel, PDCCH.

26. The network node of claim 25, wherein the network node is configured to indicate the GTS signal in downlink control information, DCI.

27. The network node of claim 26, wherein the DCI comprises an indication of the GTS signal.

28. The network node of any of claims 24 to 27, wherein the network node is configured to indicate the GTS signal in at least one configuration control resource set, CORESET.

29. The network node of claim 28 wherein the at least one CORESET is a CORESET specific to the GTS signal.

30. The network node of claim 28, wherein the at least one CORESET is shared with other PDCCH monitoring.

31. A method implemented at a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode, the method comprising:

an assignment of at least one control resource set, CORESET, associated with the at least one search space is received to monitor for an indication of a power saving signal outside of an active mode.

32. The method of claim 31, wherein the method further comprises monitoring the CORESET for an indication of the power save signal.

33. The method of claim 31 or 32, wherein the power save signal is an enter sleep GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to stay outside of an active mode during an upcoming active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the wireless device.

34. The method of claim 31 or 32, wherein the power saving signal is a wake up signal WUS indicating to the wireless device a transition from an inactive mode to an active mode.

35. The method of any of claims 31 to 34, wherein the at least one CORESET is a CORESET specific to the power saving signal.

36. The method of any of claims 31 to 34, wherein the at least one CORESET is shared with other physical downlink channel PDCCH monitoring.

37. A wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode, the C-DRX mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode, the wireless device configured to:

38. The wireless device of claim 37 wherein the wireless device is further configured to monitor the CORESET for an indication of the power save signal.

39. The wireless device of claim 37 or 38, wherein the power save signal is an enter sleep GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to stay outside of active mode for an upcoming active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the wireless device.

40. The wireless device of claim 37 or 38, wherein the power saving signal is a wake up signal WUS indicating a transition from an inactive mode to an active mode to the wireless device.

41. The wireless device of any of claims 37-40, wherein the at least one CORESET is a CORESET specific to the power save signal.

42. The wireless device of any of claims 37-40, wherein the at least one CORESET is shared with other physical downlink channel PDCCH monitoring.

43. A method implemented at a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode, the C-DRX mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode, the method comprising:

configuring the wireless device by at least one control resource set, CORESET, associated with at least one search space to monitor for an indication of a power saving signal outside of an active mode.

44. The method of claim 43, wherein the power save signal is an enter sleep GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to stay outside of active mode during an upcoming active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the wireless device.

45. The method of claim 43 wherein the power save signal is a wakeup signal WUS indicating a transition from an inactive mode to an active mode to the wireless device.

46. The method of any of claims 43 to 45, wherein the at least one CORESET is a CORESET specific to the power saving signal.

47. The method of any one of claims 43 to 45, wherein the at least one CORESET is shared with other physical downlink channel PDCCH monitoring.

48. A network node configured to communicate with a wireless device configured with a discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode of connection, the C-DRX mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode, the network node configured to:

assigning at least one control resource set, CORESET, associated with at least one search space to the wireless device to monitor for an indication of a power saving signal outside of an active mode.

49. The network node of claim 48, wherein the power save signal is an enter sleep GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to stay out of active mode during an upcoming active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the wireless device.

50. The network node of claim 48, wherein the power saving signal is a wakeup signal WUS that indicates to the wireless device to transition from an inactive mode to an active mode.

51. The network node of any of claims 48 to 50, wherein the at least one CORESET is a CORESET specific to the power saving signal.

52. The network node according to any of claims 48 to 50, wherein the at least one CORESET is shared with other physical downlink channel PDCCH monitoring.

53. A method implemented at a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode, the method comprising:

receiving an indication to enter a sleep GTS signal over a physical Downlink control channel, PDCCH, when in an active mode during an active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the wireless device, the GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to transition to an inactive mode during the active mode time.

54. The method of claim 53, further comprising transitioning from the active mode to the inactive mode during the active mode time.

55. The method of claim 53 or 54, wherein the method comprises receiving the indication of the GTS signal in downlink control information, DCI.

56. The method of any of claims 53 to 55, further comprising:

prior to the active mode time, while in an inactive mode, receiving an indication of a wake up signal WUS indicating to the wireless device to transition to an active mode.

57. The method of claim 56, further comprising transitioning from the inactive mode to the active mode.

58. A wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode, the C-DRX mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode, the wireless device configured to:

59. The wireless device of claim 58, wherein the wireless device is further configured to transition to the inactive mode during the active mode time in response to receiving the GTS signal.

60. The wireless device of claim 58 or 59, wherein the wireless device is configured to receive the indication of the GTS signal in Downlink control information, DCI.

61. The wireless device of any of claims 58-60, the device further configured to:

62. The wireless device of claim 61 further configured to transition from the inactive mode to the active mode in response to receiving the WUS.

63. A method implemented at a network node configured to communicate with a wireless device configured with a connected discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode, the C-DRX mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode, the method comprising:

indicating to the wireless device, via a physical Downlink control channel, PDCCH, an entry to sleep GTS signal indicating to the wireless device to transition to an inactive mode during an active mode time defined by a C-DRX configuration of the device, when the wireless device is in an active mode during the active mode time.

64. The method of claim 63 further comprising sending an indication of a wake up signal WUS when the wireless device is in an inactive mode prior to the active mode time, the WUS indicating to the wireless device to transition to an active mode.

65. A network node configured to communicate with a wireless device configured with a discontinuous reception, C-DRX, mode of connection, the C-DRX mode defining an active mode and an inactive mode, the network node configured to:

66. The network node of claim 65 further configured to send an indication of a wake signal WUS when the wireless device is in an inactive mode prior to the active mode time, the WUS indicating to the wireless device to transition to an active mode.